


Cyber dreamswap au

by GlitterGlitch



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: dreamswap
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:20:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21836599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlitterGlitch/pseuds/GlitterGlitch
Summary: Set in a dreamswap au/am, where Dream thinks that the only way to stop criminals and Nightmare is to turn people into mindlessly obedient cyborgs.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 31





	1. Reprogrammed Minds

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a random idea that popped into my head, keep in mind that canon dreamswap Dream clearly doesn't act like this, which is why this is considered an au/am

Nightmare stumbled through the golden hallways of JR, metallic footsteps approaching fast. “S-shit” He muttered under his breath as he continued to force himself to keep moving. “Cross, Error. Where the heck are you guys?” He murmured under his breath. 

“Stop right there, criminal!” a robotic voice hissed, it was Ink’s voice. “SHIT!” Nightmare yelps as a paint projectile was flung at him with almost perfect accuracy. Nightmare dropped to his knees and slid across the floor to dodge it and was just barely successful, narrowly avoiding it by mere inches.

He scrambled to his feet but was too slow. Ink managed to grab his arm and yanked him back. “NO” Nightmare growled and flailed against the strong grasp, but it only earned him a few bruises as his legs kicked against the hard, cold metal legs.

Nightmare’s flailing only further increased in strength when he sensed the familiar, dangerous aura getting closer and closer by the second. “Let me go you tin can asshole!” Nightmare growled but got no response from Ink. In his struggle he briefly glanced over to see a window, he knew that if he could get free he could risk the jump to escape.

His thoughts are cut short when Dream finally arrives. “Good job Ink, now, bring him back to the cells and make sure he doesn’t get out again” Dream said as Ink turned to him with Nightmare still struggling in his arms. “You bastard you- …” Nightmare is shocked to silence at the sight before him, tears pricking the edges of his eyes. “YOU ASSHOLE, WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM?! CROSS, ERROR, FUCKING FIGHT BACK!” he yells, his struggling becoming frantic and wild. Cross and Error don’t say anything, they just stare with blank expressions as they stand beside Dream, unable to truly hear Nightmare as the coding in their minds prevents them. “It’s no use Nightmare, they’re under my control now.” Dream says, glancing at Cross and Error as if marvelling over what he had done to them. 

“YOU ASSHOLE, YOU ABSOLUTE ASSHOLE!” Nightmare screams, desperately trying to hold back the tears in his eyes as he continues to fight back against Ink’s grip. The adrenaline that filled Nightmare’s body in that moment caused him to have temporary immense strength, and as he thrashed and kicked he managed to make a dent in the metal of Ink’s legs, causing the other to momentarily twitch and let go of him. In the few seconds he had to react, he jumped through the window just beside them. Glass rained down as he fell, but he soon turned his body over and managed to summon a portal. He could hear Dreams dissatisfied voice as he fell through and sealed the portal shut.

Nightmare finally let the tears in his eyes fall, freely sobbing as his legs gave way. The house felt so quiet and lonely without Error and Cross. But there was nothing he could do at that moment, after all, they were now another pawn in JR. Dream had his scientists turn them into mindless, obedient cyborgs just like every other person working in JR. All this so that he could ensure he had control over them so that he could have them hunt down and kill all sources of negativity without question. Dream has turned into an insane tyrant of a leader in JR. But in his eyes, he was doing what he had to, to help the multiverse.

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK!” Nightmare stood up and punched the wall in a blind rage. “Why… why them? WHY?!” He asked no one, in a distraught tone. He let out a shaky breath. “There has to be a way, to get them to wake the fuck up.” He didn’t want to believe that Cross and Error were lost forever. “Maybe I can hack them, change the coding the bastard planted on them.” Nightmare told himself, thinking about that possibility gave him a small spark of hope. It was enough, enough to motivate him. He knew how to hack, having learned it a while back while on the run. “I can’t just storm into JR after everything that’s happened, so maybe I could lure them somehow? …” He gasps “An idea!” He said aloud. It was risky and stupid, but it was the only thing he could think of, he only hoped that it would work as he pictured it in his mind. But for now, he would have to prepare himself, mentally and physically. 

“This is gonna be a real pain in the ass to pull off, but it’s the only plan I’ve got.”


	2. Hacking minds

Nightmare waited with bated breath whilst leaning against a few bins, hidden between two warehouses in a random au. He had a stolen laptop, rope and various wires on hand, intending to hack into the various mechanisms that were fused to his friends. Nightmare had managed to figure out how his friends were being controlled, they seemed to have some sort of device that was wired to their minds, controlling their every move. 

He grimaced, thinking about the past few weeks he had spent preparing for this risky move. He had no choice but to go to Blue for help. Blue proved to be quite helpful despite how uncomfortable it felt to be around him, something about him just seemed off to Nightmare. Through Blue’s help, Nightmare managed to learn how to hack into systems and had figured out how to get his friends back. Now all he had to do was wait, and hope that what he does is enough.

He snapped out of his thoughts as he heard heavy footsteps nearing him. They knew he was there, and that was exactly what Nightmare had planned.

He momentarily peeked over the bin, immediately catching sight of the artificial eyes that seemed to be scanning for him. They glowed a soft yellow against the darkness of night, making them easy to spot. But despite that, Nightmare could tell it was them. He thanked whatever deity was above for Dream sending them out instead of someone else to catch him. He swiftly ducked down once more as he heard them getting closer, taking a moment to mentally prepare himself for what was about to happen.

He held his breath, waiting until he heard them move right up to where he was hidden. The moment he heard the metallic feet hit the floor mere inches away from him. He leapt out, intending to tackle one or both of them to the ground. 

It all seemed to pass in slow motion to Nightmare, he soared above them, arms out and ready to push them to the hard concrete ground. He watched as their eyes followed him, impassive eyes staring blankly up at him. Error’s arm moved, seeming intent on wrapping Nightmare in his strings. Cross had his arm out, ready to summon knives. But Nightmare was already in the midst of tackling them. Time sped up once more as Nightmare slammed into them, forcing them both to fall. He could hear a sudden clank and the scraping of metal against stone as they fell over, Nightmare now sitting on top of them. The force of the fall was enough to momentarily knock them out. 

Tackling them had left Nightmare a small window of time to act, he couldn’t afford to just sit there and so he wasted no time, hastily tying them up with the rope. He quickly grabbed the laptop and wires, struggling to set it all up as Error and Cross thrashed against their restraints. Nightmare shoved the wires into the laptop and the back of Cross and Error’s heads , Yep, they literally have USB ports in the back of their heads, and began to aggressively type on the laptop, pulling up a hacking program that had been installed prior to this risky action.

It didn’t take him long to bypass all of the security put in place by JR, which in hindsight was slightly worrying as it meant that anyone with basic hacking skills could take control and cause chaos with this. But, it was also helpful, as Nightmare didn’t have so much trouble saving his friends. They had soon gone from aggressively thrashing to sleeping as Nightmare scrolled through the lines of coding. It was all so sickening to look at, how many restrictions JR had programmed into them to make them obedient. Nightmare took a good few minutes disabling certain things and activating others. Eventually, he found the main bit of coding that he needed to alter, the bit that removed their ability to do what they wanted. 

[ ENABLE FREEWILL? Y/N ] 

[ Y ]

[…]

[ FREEWILL HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY ENABLED ]

Nightmare carefully removed all of the wires. He held his breath in anticipation, tapping Cross’ shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked at Nightmare for a moment, then his eyes shifted to look at the surroundings. He squirmed a little when he realised he was tied up with ropes. “What the fuck? Why are we here and why am I tied up with Error?” He looked at Nightmare. “Explain” He said. “Just take a look at yourself” Nightmare said. Cross did so and his eyes soon widened. “WHAT THE FUCK?!” He yelled, waking up Error in the process. “WHY IS MY ASS METAL?! WHO DID THIS?!” Cross asked. “The winged glowstick did it” Nightmare answered. “That asshole? I’m… not even surprised actually” Cross said. 

“Um, what’s going on?” Error asked. “And why am I tied up with Cross?” He gazed at Cross and then Nightmare. “Pompous glowstick turned you both into cyborgs and you both went crazy, I had to tie both of you up.” Nightmare explained. “Can you untie us now?” Error asked. “Yeah, give me a sec” Nightmare grabbed the laptop and slid it back into the bag he had carried it with, he then untied the rope, allowing the two to finally stand up. “Thank you” Error said. “We should probably move now. Sooner or later they’re gonna realise you two are no longer in their control” Nightmare said. Cross and Error both nodded. Nightmare was quick to summon a portal back home, and as they disappeared through the portal, they could hear the distant sound of more JR vans pulling up, but they were gone before any of the JR members could catch them.


End file.
